ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1602047
Comparative Efficacy of Intravenous Immunoglobulin and Protein A Immunoadsorption in Severe Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis
Provisionally accepted
- 1The Second People’s Hospital of Hunan Province（Brain Hospital of Hunan Province), Changsha, China
- 2College of Clinical Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
- 3The Fourth Hospital of Changsha(Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Changsha，Changsha Hospital of Hunan Normal University）, changsha, China
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Objective: To compare the differential effects of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and protein A immunoadsorption (PAIA) on neurological functional improvement in patients with severe anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated patients with severe anti-NMDAR encephalitis (modified Rankin scale, mRS ≥ 3) at the Second People's Hospital of Hunan from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2024. Clinical efficacy was compared between the IVIg and PAIA groups. Clinical improvement (ΔmRS ≥ 1) and favorable functional outcomes (mRS 0-2) at 30 days and 90 days were evaluated as primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes included changes in mRS and the Clinical Assessment Scale for Autoimmune Encephalitis (ΔCASE) at 30 and 90 days, length of ICU stay, and antibody titers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum.Results: This study enrolled 53 patients with severe anti-NMDAR encephalitis, of whom 30 patients received IVIg and 23 patients received PAIA. The PAIA group showed a significantly higher rate of clinical improvement at 30 days after treatment compared to the IVIg group (82.61% vs. 50%, p = 0.014). However, no significant difference was found at 90 days after treatment (95.65% vs. 96.67%, p > 0.05). Furthermore, favorable functional outcomes at 30 days (17.39% vs. 6.67%) and 90 days (91.30% vs. 80.00%) showed no significant differences between the two groups (p > 0.05). Significant differences were observed in ∆mRS1 (p = 0.005), ∆mRS2 (p = 0.03), and ∆CASE1 (p = 0.027) , but not in ∆CASE2 (p > 0.05) . PAIA was associated with a greater reduction in antibody titers in both CSF and serum and a shorter ICU stay.Our study demonstrates that both IVIg and PAIA are effective treatments for patients with severe anti-NMDAR encephalitis. However, PAIA demonstrates several distinct advantages, including earlier clinical improvement, faster antibody clearance, and a potential reduction in ICU stay.
Keywords: Severe Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis, Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), Protein A immunoadsorption, Modified Rankin scale, Clinical Assessment Scale for Autoimmune Encephalitis score
Received: 28 Mar 2025; Accepted: 24 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tang, Liu, Zhou, Yu, Xiong and Lin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yu Liu, The Second People’s Hospital of Hunan Province（Brain Hospital of Hunan Province), Changsha, China
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